


Customer Service with Lewis Pepper

by disgraceRavenclaw



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: And a chance to laugh about customer service lol, Annoying People, Customer Service, M/M, More stories to be added, lewis works at ikea, this is a break from serious writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 01:12:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16671946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgraceRavenclaw/pseuds/disgraceRavenclaw
Summary: My name is Lewis Pepper. I work at IKEA. It’s not the best job on the planet, but it helps me make ends meet. The staff is nice, and it’s not like I hate working here, you know? I guess I just miss working at my mom’s restaurant.Also, customer service is a special kind of hell.





	Customer Service with Lewis Pepper

**Author's Note:**

> Fun story, kinda crack fic-ish because i'm not really expanding on anything in canon or an au. It's just lewis, working at an IKEA.
> 
> Also, Arthur is a meme.

My name is Lewis Pepper. I work at IKEA. It’s not the best job on the planet, but it helps me make ends meet. The staff is nice, and it’s not like I hate working here, you know? I guess I just miss working at my mom’s restaurant. 

Also, customer service is a special kind of hell.

 

“Do you carry chairs larger than this?” She said, looking at the chair disdainfully.

“Yes,” He told her, customer service smile plastered on his face. “We do carry larger chairs, but they’re at a higher price.” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. She turned her head and looked at Lewis funny. “Oh, but I only have a budget.”

“Yes, ma’am, I see that. Then you’ll have to get the smaller chairs.”

“But I want the bigger ones. Is there any way I can get these cheaper?”

_ ‘No ma’am, the price is right on the tag.’ _ “I’m not sure you can, ma’am.” He could feel his smile slipping a little. Usually, Lewis was known for his patient attitude, but customer service is seriously starting to break him. Still, his paycheck depended on this.

“How about you talk to your manager and get back to me?” she said, a smug smile like she was telling a child what to do.  Lewis nodded. “Alright, ma’am, stay there, this will only take a second.”

He walked away, quickly, to go find his manager. “Uh, Anne,” he said, grabbing her attention. “Oh, Lewis!” She said, smiling. “What seems to be the matter?”

“There’s a customer haggling for prices.”

Her face fell. “I’ll go handle it,” she said. “You go see if anyone else needs some assistance.” She speed walked in the direction Lewis came from.

To be honest, It was around 10 minutes before the shop closed, so Lewis wasn’t concerned. He’d just walk around the store aimlessly, and if anyone talked to him, he would handle it. Luckily, being so close to closing time, the aisles were pretty empty. 

He walked by the bed section, where a man with spiky blonde hair was standing. Lewis approached, wondering if he needed help, when suddenly the man pulled the sheet off of the display bed, and got in.

Right. Today just couldn’t be easy.

Lewis walked up to the man in the bed. “Sir, this is a display bed. You’re not allowed to lay here.” The man looked up at Lewis. He stared for a few moments, before shutting his eyes and making a tired noise.

“Sir, you can’t sleep here.”

He rolled over so his back was facing Lewis. “Comfy…” he mumbled, sleepily. Lewis’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sir, i’m going to have to call security. You can’t stay there.”

“ _ Comnfyyy,” _ he groaned louder. Lewis sighed, and went to call security. He picked up a phone on the wall, and dialed a short number, waiting for it to ring. “Yes, hello, security? There’s a man on the display bed in the bedroom aisle.” He turned around as he was speaking, looking at the man in the bed. He glared at Lewis, frowning. He shook his head.

Lewis nodded in response, and the man shook his head again. “Okay, thank you,” Lewis said into the phone, then hung it back on the wall.

The man groaned loudly in complaint. He rolled out of the bed, and rubbed his tired eyes. Lewis briefly wondered if he was homeless or something, but he didn’t say anything. The man walked forward, peering at Lewis’ chest, where his name tag sat. 

He looked up at Lewis’ face. “Lewis,” he said. He fell back into silence. “See ya tomorrow,” he said, walking out of the shop. 

Tomorrow? I watched him go, confused. At that moment, security came to supposedly throw him out, but he was already gone.

 

The next day, while Lewis was preparing to close shop, who walked in but the same man who tried to sleep in the display bed. He looked just as tired as before. The man stopped in front of Lewis, and looked up at him.

Lewis almost thought he was going to say something about the beds, but then, he walked away. Back to the bedroom aisle. Lewis followed him.

And then, guess what he did.

He lifted the sheet, and got under it, and curled up in the bed.

Lewis stood and looked at him. “Sir, you did this yesterday.”  
“Comnfy,” he said again, just as slurred and quiet as the first time he said it. Lewis almost wanted to laugh. Did this guy seriously think he could get away with this again? “Sir, i’ll have to call security,” he said. 

The man turned to peer at Lewis. Lewis walked over to the phone to pick it up, and managed to dial the first few numbers, but wasn’t able to complete the number as he heard a shuffling noise behind him. He man grumbled quietly. “See ya tomorrow, then, Lew.”

Oh, no. Was this going to become a regular occurance?   
  


As it turns out, yes. It was going to become a regular occurance. For the past week (and a half, but who was counting?), this guy would walk in, give some weird silent greeting to Lewis, and get into the display bed. Lewis would threaten to call security, and he would leave.

They developed a weird routine, not unlike a dance, except instead of stepping gracefully in a pattern to music, they were silently arguing about sleeping in the display bed. 

Lewis found himself actually looking forward to seeing him, because it wasn’t like this guy was causing any trouble or anything. He was just sleeping in the display bed. He always left after some minor convincing. 

It made Lewis smile. Not customer service smiling. Real smiling.

Of course, Lewis was also kind of concerned. He noticed on the 5th night it happened that this guy wore the same clothes every day, and never anything different. He didn’t look  _ homeless _ or anything. Just raggedy. 

Okay, he probably could have been homeless. Lewis just didn’t know.

Speak of the devil. The man entered the shop 12 minutes before it closed, most days, but he was early this time by 3 minutes. Lewis watched him enter.

He stood in front of Lewis, smiling, then walked over to the bed section. Lewis followed him closely. He got under the sheets and curled up in the bed. 

“Sir,” Lewis said, holding back a laugh. He turned to look at Lewis, grinning stupidly. “Comnfy,” he said. Lewis crossed his arms. “If it’s so comfy, why don’t you buy it?”

He opened his eyes widely. Contorting his body a little bit, he leaned up to look at the tag, and hissed. “$300…”

“That’s not bad, for a bed that size,” Lewis said in wonder. Because really, it wasn’t. It was like… a queen sized bed. For $300. He’s seen a twin sized more expensive. But Arthur frowned. “Where would I put it?” 

“In your house,” Lewis said, kind of desperately hoping this guy would have one.

He shrugged. “I could put it there, but it’s cold in my house. It’s warm in here.”

Lewis turned his head, furrowing his brow. “You don’t have heating?”

“Can’t pay for it,” the guy mumbled. “And why would I? Other places have heating.”

“So you don’t have to go to other places to keep warm,” Lewis said, like it was obvious. Because it was.

The man laid back down in the bed. “Yeah,” he said. The two sat in silence. Lewis wondered if he should actually call security, or if there conversation had somehow strayed into the line of discussing a transaction. 

“I’m Arthur, by the way,” the man said out of nowhere. Lewis looked down at him, puzzled. “Oh,” he said awkwardly. “Okay.” Arthur shifted around in the bed. “Why am I not allowed to sleep in these, anyway?”

“Sanitation reasons,” Lewis answered professionally. Arthur pouted his lips. “Aww, okay. I guess that makes sense.” He got up from the bed. “Well, au revior, Lew.” He waved at Lewis as he left. 

Lewis watched him go, and smiled. He didn’t have to threaten to call security that time, which was definitely an improvement. 

 

The next day, Lewis stood by the door as he closed shop, waiting for a special blonde haired someone. But he never came. 8 minutes until closing.

“He’s running late,” Lewis mumbled to himself. “Or maybe, he’s already here?”

5 minutes until closing, and Lewis found the bedroom aisle completely empty. He sat and waited.

3 minutes until closing. 

Lewis sighed. Maybe Arthur got stuck in traffic (if he even had a car), and just didn’t make it in time before the store closed, and decided to go back.

But Arthur didn’t come back the next day, either. Or the next. Lewis began to worry beyond belief.  _ What if one of the staff members banned him from the store when I didn’t check the beds earlier enough the first day i didn’t see him? What if he knows now he can’t afford the bed and just gave up? What if, while he was going home the last time Lewis saw him, a great big truck came by and- _

Lewis cut that thought off before it had a chance to finish itself. He didn’t want to know.

 

Arthur didn’t return at all for two weeks. Lewis barely slept. He knew nothing about this guy, other than his name, and that his apartment was cold, but he couldn’t help feeling concerned. This whole display bed debacle really grew on him, and he missed seeing Arthur’s dopey face. 

He also missed the stupid way he said Comfy. _ Comnfy _ , he said. It was annoying at first, but kind of charming in a weird, cute way. Lewis looked at the time. He was going to be on break soon. He decided to take a scenic little walk to the bedroom aisle.

The empty display bed stared back at Lewis, and made him sad. He didn’t have anything better to do. He sat down on the display bed, hoping nobody was around to see. The cottony mattress sunk under his weight, just a little bit. “Man, this is  _ comnfy _ ,” he said to himself.

“Hey, that’s my line!”

Lewis looked up at the familiar voice. Arthur stood there, in the same orange vest and yellow sweatpants he wore all the time. He had a dumb grin on his face. Lewis felt like fainting.

He shot up from the bed, and walked over to him. “Arthur!” he said. “Where have you been the past two weeks?”

Arthur shrugged. “Oh, has it been two weeks? That’s long. I was at my Uncle’s shop, where I work. Busy stuff, I guess. I took every work shift I could.”

“Why?” Lewis said. He wasn’t mad or anything, just a little upset he worried over nothing. Arthur pointed to the bed. “To save up for one of those,” he said. “They’re comnfy.”

Lewis smiled. “They sure are. So, no more sleeping in the display beds?” He said it thankfully, but felt a little sad. 

“Nope, ‘fraid not. We can chill and stuff, though. You’re cool.” He points at Lewis, and grins. Lewis feels his face heat up. “But all i’ve been doing is telling you to get out of the display beds,” Lewis said, smiling sheepishly. Arthur shrugged. “Eh, yeah. But wouldn’t that make for a  _ hilarious _ story?”

He pinched his nose to make his voice funny. “Oh, how did you two become friends?” He let go of his nose, turning at a different angle like he was replying. “Oh, he kicked me out of an ikea for like two weeks in a row for sleeping in the display beds.”

“One and a half,” Lewis said. Arthur smiled. “Yeah, one and a half. Oh, uh…” He pointed at the bed. “I’ve never bought a bed in my life.”

Lewis put on a genuine smile. “I’ll walk ya through it.”

**Author's Note:**

> #Comnfy


End file.
